Microsoft has added one of the key features that was missing from its initial release of Office for iPad. Now, users can print their Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents straight from their iPad, so long as they have access to an AirPrint capable printer. It doesn’t matter if they’re a subscriber to Office 365, either. Anyone who downloads the apps to their iPad will be able to view and print documents, even if they don’t pay Microsoft a subscription fee for access to Office.
Until today’s update, users interested in producing hard copies of their documents had to fire up Office on their computer to print. Microsoft says printing was the most-requested feature for the iPad suite.
In addition to the printing changes, Microsoft added its SmartGuides feature to PowerPoint, which will help people align objects when laying out their presentation slides. It’s a helpful feature, especially on the iPad’s small screen. While objects can look aligned on an iPad’s screen, placing something just a few pixels off could look bad when it’s projected on a huge screen. With SmartGuides, users can know how their objects fit together.
It has been a successful month for Office for iPad, which launched to a positive reception from consumers. While its dominance of the free iPad app charts has come and gone, both Word and Excel for iPad remain among the top ten most downloaded free iPad apps in the U.S.
Office for iPad is available for free in the iOS App Store for viewing documents, though users who want to edit documents will need an Office 365 subscription.
